There was a time when I shunned short stories, preferring the wide-ranging
saga of the sort I wrote about in The Interstellar Undertakers and its two
companion volumes. However, there are certain subjects which find their natural
place in the short story. And since I was occasionally accused of being a (mild)
example of the type when I was a Professor of astrophysics, I was drawn to the
vintage problem of the crazy scientist. There follows a collection of a dozen
stories with this as theme. Some of the stories are, I admit, dark in tone. As
reader you can of course take them in any order you wish. But for those who
desire a lighter treatment, the first and last have a measure of levity.